"HEY! EIBON!"
Stirred from slumber, the young scientist blinked blearily. Rubbing his bright blue eyes, he rose from his bed and shuffled towards the window in his makeshift pajamas (really just a bunch of gray fabric stitched together, since he had none of his own) to see what had made that awful noise. He approached the windowsill and rubbed the last bit of sleep out of his eyes before opening them. They widened slightly as he saw an intruder on the ground outside, waving to him.
"It's our first day of school today!" Shinigami yelled, waving his arm like a palm tree in a hurricane. "Come on, we're going to be late!"
"You're too early," Eibon groaned. He paused for a moment before yelling out the window so that the loud-mouthed, selective hearing, currently laughing reaper could hear him. "AND DON'T JUST YELL MY NAME LIKE THAT! DOES 'IN COGNITO' MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?"
Now dressed and outside, Eibon huffed and placed his hands on his hips indignantly. "Your older self was right! You're going to get us caught!"
"Relax, Ei, I'm nearly eighty percent sure no one heard us," Shinigami replied offhandedly, waving him off. "Now come on, let's go already! Shibusen is on the other side of town!"
Knowing this was a lost cause, Eibon sighed and followed Shinigami's enthusiastic march. After a few moment of silence, Shinigami fell back into a calm pace and grinned at Eibon.
"I can't believe it. We're actually going to school."
Eibon nodded, smiling. "Yeah. Although...it seems a lot different than school back home. It looks like it's a lot more common for children like you and me to go to school, instead of the wealthy."
"No way!" Shinigami leaned in and blinked curiously. "Ah, but Kid is wealthy...and he still goes to school, right?"
"That's true." Eibon smiled, lowering his gaze. "Still, I think we still have a lot more to learn about this time. We have to make sure that normal stuff in this time doesn't freak us out."
"Like when people turn lights on?"
"Yeah! Did you...?"
"Yeah, it scared me so much! I thought it was magic at first." Shinigami laughed. "I must've jumped five feet in the air! Spirit looked at me funny, but I think he just shrugged it off. He's pretty gullible."
The brunette sighed in relief. It was a good sign that Shinigami was stuck with someone as stupid and easy to fool as he was. Stein was most definitely a lot smarter than Spirit. It was lucky that he had his back turned when he flipped the switch, otherwise he might have gotten suspicious by Eibon's reaction. Curious by the contraption, Eibon had disassembled it in the dead of night and made detailed notes in his book about how it worked, reassembling it before Stein awoke. He planned to do the same with other pieces of equipment he didn't quite understand.
"Ah, but," Shinigami continued, "Shibusen is lit by candles, right? It won't be so bad there."
"Ah, yes," Eibon replied, forgetting that the school was lined by rows of continuously lit candles...not to mention the building itself seem to be stabbed with four large (symmetrical) candlesticks. He figured the same sort of 'shinigami magic' that never let his book run out of pages was the same that kept the candles lit. He didn't know what it was called, only that Shinigami was particularly skilled in it (and hated when it was referred to as 'magic'). "I have to say, I'm a bit nervous."
"Why?" Shinigami asked, his tone with a bit of arrogance, "it'll be fun! Plus, Kid is there! You're being ridiculous!"
"You were nervous last night," Eibon grumbled irately, though he was fairly certain Shinigami couldn't (or wouldn't) hear him.
"Besides," the young reaper interrupted, "we'll meet a lot of new people!"
"I didn't know you'd be the first person I meet," Shinigami grumbled, his eyebrow twitching. He had successfully climbed the tower of stairs only to find the same arrogant boy from yesterday.
Black Star jabbed a finger at Shinigami's chest, leaning so that their faces were almost touching. "Look buddy. I already taught you a lesson yesterday, and I don't like beating up the same guy twice. Don't be a bigger star than me, got it?" he growled in warning.
Instead of answering, Shinigami's yellow eyes slid to his anxious partner. "What do you think, Akito? Should I make a grand entrance of my own or let everyone discover my greatness by themselves?"
"Please don't sink to his level," Eibon whimpered, hopeless tears flooding his cheeks.
Shinigami blinked before meeting Black Star's gaze once again. "You're right. I don't want to come off as an ass like this guy."
At this, Black Star flew into a rage, gripping Shinigami's collar threateningly and lifting him up. Shinigami's legs dangled, inches from the ground. "Why you-"
"Hey! Cut it out." Before they could get into another fight, Soul and the pigtailed girl from yesterday walked towards them. Soul, the one who had stopped the inevitable brawl, had his hands in his jacket pockets, while the girl was smiling with her hands clasped behind her back. The girl looked friendly enough, her emerald eyes sparkling. "Shinigami-sama already suspended you from missions for a week. You don't want to get him really angry, do you?"
"Yeah," Shinigami parroted, his golden eyes impassive as they stared at Black Star unblinkingly. "You don't want him angry."
Black Star's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he lowered the reaper boy to the ground. As soon as he was safe, the blonde pigtailed girl came up to him.
"Hey, I don't think I've seen you around before," the girl began, smiling at him and extending a hand. "I'm Maka Albarn, Demon Scythe Meister. And this lazy guy over here is my partner, Soul Eater." In the background, Soul protested, "We've already met before!"
Shinigami smiled slightly, not quite as extreme his full grin. He took her hand. "Damien Clear. I'm also a scythe meister." He turned to Eibon and nodded. "And this is my partner, Akito Toshihiro." Eibon smiled at her.
"It's nice to meet you both," Maka greeted, nodding. She glanced at Shinigami. "Say, you look kind of familiar..."
"Ah, I'm Death the Kid's cousin," Shinigami quickly explained, a hand on the back of his head in embarrassment. "That's why we look alike. Speaking of which, have you seen him?"
"Hm, no. Maybe he's late again..." At the same time, a cry echoed from the building. "Black Star? Black Star!" A girl with a long black ponytail emerged from the entrance, running towards the group. As she ran, her breasts jiggled and bounced very obviously with her. By the time she approached, both Shinigami and Eibon's faces were bright red. She glanced from Black Star to Shinigami.
"Is this the boy you got into a fight with yesterday?"
"Yep!" At this, the girl immediately bowed respectfully to the two boys.
"I'm so sorry!" Shinigami and Eibon put up their hands, trying to calm the distressed girl. Shinigami spoke to her first, laughing nervously.
"It's no big deal! No problem!" Once the girl had straightened and look at him curiously, he grinned. "Damien Clear. I'm Death the Kid's cousin."
"Akito Toshihiro," Eibon piped in.
The girl smiled. "I'm Tsubaki Nakatsukasa."
"Ah, are you...Kid's friends?" Shinigami asked, glancing around. Eibon could have slapped himself, and almost did. Upon meeting a few people, Shinigami automatically thinks they're his son's friends. It was typical behavior for a father, but Shinigami was fifteen.
Eibon actually did slap himself at the nods his partner got. Why was Shinigami always the lucky one?
"Yeah, he's our friend," Maka told him. She turned around, motioning for them to follow her. "Come on, let's go find him! I'll bet he's excited to see you."
Shinigami, Eibon, and Soul followed her, leaving Tsubaki to lecture Black Star. Once the four entered, they passed countless students lining the halls. Most of them were lounging about with friends or minding their own business, loitering around before class began. Shinigami and Eibon scrutinized them carefully, trying to imitate their carefree stance. As Eibon tried to awkwardly look like the others, Shinigami leaned over to him. He had the perfect posture for these students- slumped over, hands in pockets, grinning from ear to ear.
"It's okay, just look cool," he suggested in a whisper before dashing off to look like he wasn't in a hurry.
Eibon just stared after him. "How can I? I don't even know what that means!" he exclaimed, gathering attention from nearby students. He glanced around and quickly caught up with his partner, mentally making a note not to shout at Shinigami in public.
The four arrived at a doorway. Shinigami stopped exactly when Maka stopped, causing Eibon to bump into him. The weapon glanced around his meister's body to see that Maka had extended her hand towards the doorway. "Well, this is our classroom. I think Kid is in there already," she told the eager reaper.
Shinigami smiled and thanked her before positioning himself next to the doorframe, peering into the classroom like a spy. His fingers brushed the edges of the wooden frame as he looked in. Maka glanced at Eibon upon witnessing this strange behavior, and Eibon only offered a hopeless expression and shrug in response.
Suddenly, Shinigami gasped. There he was- his very own son, sitting calmly in his seat, flanked by the Thompson twins. As far as Shinigami could see, they were the only ones in the room. He chuckled darkly, sinking into the hallway...
...only to rise behind Kid, his hands extended. He quickly wrapped his arms around Kid's neck in a mix between a hug and a stranglehold. "BOO!" he yelled, laughing. Kid struggled against his hold, protesting, before he got a good look at his attacker. His golden eyes went wide as Shinigami grinned at him. "Hey."
Kid swiftly turned the hold around so that he was the one holding Shinigami by the collar. The reaper was a little off put about how many had held him by the collar since he got here, but quickly swallowed his protests when he saw the angry look on Kid's face.
"Kid?" he asked nervously.
"What are you doing here?" Kid demanded, making Shinigami flinch.
"I only wanted to see my little boy...it's been a really long time, you know."
"I just saw you a couple months ago!"
"Yeah, well, it's been three years in my time. Look, I'm the same age as you!"
"You don't get it! You...you can't be here."
"Why not?" Shinigami frowned.
"Because!" Kid snapped, though he didn't have an excuse ready. All he knew was, instinctively, it was bad for his father's younger self to be here in the present. It was unnatural...unbalanced. It set him on edge, much like what asymmetry did. "Because...don't you have...don't you have things to do in your time?"
"Ah, I'll only be here for a little bit. Then me and Eibon will go home at the same time we left, so it's like we never did. Oh, by the way, the older me says I can attend Shibusen! So I'll be going to school with you for a couple weeks, or until he kicks me out." At this, Kid released his hold. Shinigami brushed himself off. "Oh, and thanks for telling me that I'll grow up to be a dancing blob." When Kid didn't respond, Shinigami leaned down anxiously. "Are...are you mad?"
Kid glanced up, this time his eyes more hopelessly confused than angry. "No, I'm not mad," he sighed, as if he was telling a child. Her father certainly acted like one. "I just...don't know what to think, that's all."
"I'm glad you're not mad," Shinigami replied, smiling softly as he was genuinely relieved. "Ah, and don't worry, I won't bother you at all. In fact I already made some new friends!"
"Friends? What kind of friends?" Kid asked suspiciously, worried that his (up to this point) isolated father's naive definition of 'friends' may not be exactly correct.
"Well, I don't know. Friendly friends? I've met Soul, and Maka...and Tsubaki, and that annoying guy," the reaper listed off, counting on his fingers.
"Black Star," Kid finished for him. Then he realized something. "Wait, were you the one who got into a fight with him yesterday?" He'd heard the news about Black Star beating up a new student, but it looked like everyone exaggerated on that one because Shinigami looked perfectly fine as he nodded.
It was then that the twins had decided it safe to come over and greet the new student. Patty immediately enveloped Shinigami in a dangerously tight hug, yelling, "Yay, the little Shinigami-sama is here!" After they parted, Liz stared at Shinigami intensely. Shinigami matched her stare with a lot less vigor and a lot more intrigue.
"You got taller," she finally said, making him grin. Indeed, the last time she had met him, he was only twelve- coming up to her breasts, at best. Now he was fifteen, and reached her shoulders. He was even taller than Kid, if only by an inch or two. It sounded like puberty had been good to him, as his voice had lowered and become more scratchy. It still held the same high-pitched lilt to it that had become so familiar, however.
"Don't forget me!" Eibon protested softly, running over to them. He had gotten taller too, only a few inches shorter than his partner. His voice had also lowered, but not lower than Shinigami's. He smiled at the trio before Patty gave him the same bone-crushing hug. Liz laughed upon seeing the bewildered but grateful expression of the scythe in response.
"Wow, look at you two! I'll bet you can get any girl at school with those looks," she complimented. Eibon looked sheepish, but Shinigami only grinned like he knew it all along.
"Ah! That reminds me," Kid began, turning to his father. "Have you told anyone?"
"What? Of course not! I'm Damien Clear, your cousin from Japan, remember?" Shinigami answered smoothly.
Kid smirked. "Impressive. And Eibon?"
"My weapon partner, Akito Toshihiro." Shinigami paused. "I will be glad when I can stop introducing myself."
The five laughed before noticing that the classroom was slowly beginning to fill with students. "Class is starting," Kid announced. "Let's go sit down."
They sat down, five of them, in a row. Eibon was on the end, next to Shinigami, who had Kid on his right. To the left of Kid sat the Thompson twins, first Liz then Patty. Shinigami recognized Soul and Maka coming in, Soul taking a seat beside Patty and Maka taking the seat next to him. Shinigami twisted his face, trying to imitate the carefree scowl Soul had. Black Star, still half-dead, shuffled in with Tsubaki behind him. They took seats on the row in front of them. Everyone was seating and talking for a good ten minutes before the teacher decided to roll in on a chair.
"Hello class," Stein began. Eibon blinked. Stein was also their teacher? "If you haven't heard already, we have two new students. And yes, the one that looks like Kid was the one who Black Star supposedly 'beat up' yesterday. As you can see, he is perfectly fine." Stein pointed to Shinigami and Eibon, who both jumped. Shinigami turned to wave at the class, only to get smacked in the back of the head by something hard and sharp. He rubbed his neck to see that the flying projectile was actually a book- one that Eibon had in his hands and without the injuries that Shinigami had.
"That's your textbook. Since you came here late, you need to get caught up. We're on chapter fourteen. And we will not be slowing the class for you." The two nodded, though Shinigami looked nervous. "Good. Now...why don't we have a demonstration of your abilities? Since you managed to escape a fight with the most powerful student in the school without so much of a scratch, I think we're all eager to see what you can do." The way Stein's glasses glinted and his growing smirk as he said this made Shinigami uneasy. His eyes widened a fraction as he grit his teeth in suspicion. Finally, he stood and walked down the center aisle to the front of the classroom.
Eibon followed him worriedly, trying to whisper to him every so often without gathering the attention of other students. Shinigami finally stopped and turned to him.
"He wanted to see what we can do, right?" he drawled. "Let's show him, then." Eibon, not comfortable with this plan in the slightest, only quietly followed his meister and hoped that he knew what he was doing.
Shinigami stood in the middle of the floor, facing Eibon. He narrowed his eyes, and when he spoke, his tone was coldly serious. "Akito, scythe form."
Eibon nodded hesitantly and leapt into the air, glowing a bright blue color and shifting and twisting his body into a scythe shape. Shinigami stepped forward to catch the still glowing handle and spin it around, taking a battle stance. He held his breath as Eibon's scythe form stabilized, materializing in his hands. Shinigami felt Eibon's wavelength close to him, and he reached out with his own to match it. For a long, agonizing second, nothing happened.
Then Eibon began to scream.
The screech threw Shinigami off, and he stepped back, eyes wide. All of a sudden, he felt a searing pain in his soul. His wavelength sparked and sizzled inside of him before finally breaking free of its prison. Shinigami screamed as sparks of his soul wavelength shot from him, electrocuting both his insides and the weapon in his hands. The pain was agonizing, as if someone had stabbed him repeatedly with a bolt of lightning. Shocks ran through his bones, numbing his entire body.
Suddenly, Eibon's cries cut through his pain, opening his hearing to his partner's pain. Overwhelmed with his first intuition to protect his partner at all costs, he wretched the scythe away from him. As soon as they parted, Shinigami felt the electric shocks immediately grow lighter and lighter before they stopped in a matter of seconds. The scythe clattered to the floor, glowing bright blue as it shifted back into the hazel-haired boy. Eibon clutched his chest, heaving heavily as he tried to regain his breath.
Shinigami heaved just as heavily, his eyes wide. He could barely breathe; he could barely remember how to breathe. It was as if everything but his natural instincts suddenly shut down. He couldn't think through the haze of pain and shock clouding his mind. How was he breathing? How was he alive? How could he hold his weapon?
Clap, clap, clap.
The reaper jerked his head towards the sound of clapping. Stein sat backwards on his chair, a smirk through his cigarette as he continued to strike his hands together.
"Congratulations. You've already failed on your first day. How are you going to create a Death Scythe if you can't even resonate with your weapon?"
"Say that again you spineless-" Shinigami growled, a darker tone tearing through his throat. He was cut off by an hand seizing his arm.
"Damien," Eibon warned softly. Shinigami turned to his partner with the same strong glare, his eyes dark with wrath. It was the most hateful look that Eibon had ever gotten from the often moody boy. Knowing the glare wasn't meant for him but for Stein, he held his ground and held his steady gaze until Shinigami finally turned away in defeat. He tore his arm from Eibon's grip and shoved his hands in his pockets, turning on his heel and storming out of the classroom.
Eibon watched him exit, and, with a meaningful glance towards Stein, he followed his partner out without once looking back.
The young scientist followed his meister to an area just outside of the restrooms, near the water fountain. Shinigami leaned back against the wall with his neck craned towards the ceiling, his lips pulled back in a lazy scowl. Eibon stood next to his partner, leaning against the wall and gazing towards the ceiling with an ambivalent smile on his face. They stood in silence for a moment before Shinigami finally broke it with a huff.
"School sucks."
Eibon chuckled softly at Shinigami's dramatics. When one small part of his day went wrong, the whole experience was ruined.
"Don't say that. I think you like school."
Shinigami glanced at Eibon through the corner of his eye before turning his gaze to the ceiling once more. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, deep down. Don't be upset about what happened. I bet that sort of thing happens all the time around here." Eibon turned his neck towards Shinigami. "Why don't we go ask your older self about it?"
"Who says I'm going to stay?"
Eibon shifted his neck so that he was looking straight forward, right at the deserted restrooms and water fountain. "I think you'll stay. Even if you think Professor Stein is a jerk, or that learning is stupid, I think you'll stay." Eibon glanced down at his feet, smiling. "Because you love this school."
Shinigami maintained his scowl for a moment, his expression hidden behind his striped bangs. Then he pushed himself from the wall and began to stalk down the hall towards the end of the school. Eibon followed him merrily, clasping his hands behind his back.
"Hey, old man."
Shinigami stared at the older reaper with a bored expression, his lips curled, his posture slouched, and his hands in his pockets. Across from him stood himself in all his spiky, bouncy glory. His mask seem to stare into Shinigami's own eyes, as if trying to commit murder via staring contest. Around them, clouds crawled lazily along the dusty floor of the Death Room.
"Well, I saw your performance today," Shinigami-sama began, his choice of words rather disheartening despite his uplifting tone. "I think I almost cried at how sad it was."
"Save it," Shinigami snapped. "Tell me why I can't resonate with Eibon anymore!"
"You haven't figured it out yet?" Shinigami-sama asked, cocking his head. His eye sockets lowered, giving him a rather unimpressed expression. Shinigami gave him a glare in response, prompting the older reaper to continue. "You're too powerful for him. All that strength and power you gain when you became the Reaper greatly surpassed your already stretched gap in power. Eibon literally can no longer keep up with you."
The two boys stared in shock. Shinigami stepped forward, an incredulous look on his face. "Wait, are you for real?" he asked desperately, hoping that his older self was kidding. How can he possibly be so strong that Eibon couldn't resonate with him? He's always been strong, and Eibon's always been able to keep up. It frightened him to think that they might not able to resonate again. The thought of it drove him to blind, frustrated fury. "You're joking, right?" he yelled.
Eibon's gaze fell to his feet, a heavy weight settling on his shoulders. Though he remained silent, his smile disappeared.
"I'm not joking. You saw it with your own eyes. Back there in the classroom, you nearly consumed Eibon's wavelength with your own. As a result, his soul rejected yours and your wavelength recoiled and struck you both." Both boys flinched at the pain of Shinigami's powerful wavelength coursing through them. Shinigami winced as a wave of guilt hit him. He had hurt his own partner trying to force a stable resonance. Why did he have to be so dumb as to accept Stein's proposal? Why was Eibon always the one hurt because of his stupidity? He grit his teeth and cast his gaze downward in shame.
"It's what happens when you try to resonate with a undeveloped weapon. That's what the Death Scythes are for," Shinigami-sama continued. Shinigami slowly raised his gaze in surprise.
"Do you mean...I can only wield Death Scythes?"
"Indeed. If you want to wield a weapon, they'll need to undergo the transformation before you can get anything close to a resonance with them. Otherwise your sheer power will overwhelm them."
Eibon gazed forlornly at his partner, knowing what was coming next. "Sorry, Eibon," he'd say. "But I need a Death Scythe to protect the world." And then he would leave with someone else. Eibon convinced himself of this fact, but he didn't really know what he was going to do afterwards. Shinigami had become his life. He spent all of his time and energy trying to take care of him. If he didn't have that, what would he do? Invent? He didn't fancy the idea of inventing without anyone to invent for. Would he just float along lifelessly until a kishin or witch defeated him? God knows he would only last so long without Shinigami's protection. Or maybe he would just wither away, completely useless to the world. Would anyone miss him? Would Shinigami?
His partner slowly turned around, a look of fierce determination etched on his features. His golden eyes seemed to radiate possibility as Eibon stared at his reflection in them.
"In that case, Eibon," he growled lowly. "I'll make you a Death Scythe."
Eibon: Wow, we're really far behind!
Shinigami: Huh? How can we be? What's that book know that I don't?
Eibon: Well, for starters, what's a rejection reaction?
Shinigami: It's that thing we did today, isn't it?
Eibon: Okay then, what's an Autonomous Weapon?
Shinigami: Uh...it's, uh...
Eibon: What'sa Dark Weapon? A Bakeneko? A Monster? One-, two-, and three-star meisters?
Shinigami: I DON'T KNOW ALL THESE DAMN TERMS, OKAY?
Eibon: On the next chapter of A Leap Through Time, Fight! The New Kids' First Mission?
Shinigami: I'm a thousand-star meister!
A/N: Again, sorry for late update. But hey look how meaty this chapter is, yeah? Sorry for Black Star being so territorial OOC...I think his motivation is that he knows that Shinigami is better so he has to prove himself, or something. I know, wow, I can't even write in character. Also I totally support oldersister!Liz. Shinigami's (and Eibon's) interactions with the Thompson sisters are so adorable.